Railway-tie coupling



May 12, 1925.

W. R. GORRELL ET AL RAILWAY TIE COUPLING Filed Jude 9. 1924 w gum-g5 3W4 M'ZZz'am 71260.

' flltowup I l/1 10f] Patented May 12, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R. GORE/ELL, OF ALHAMBRA, AND HENRY BARKSCHAT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

RAILWAY-TIE COUPLING.

AppIication filed June 9, 192 1.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM R. Gon- HELL and HENRY BARKSCHAT, citizens of the United States, residing at Alhambra and Los Angeles, respectively, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Tie Couplings; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates broadly to an improved railway tie of the type which is especially but not necessarily, designed for use on railways utilizing electricity as a. motive power. The invention however, has more particular reference to a sectional metallic tie of this class which is constructed to permit use of an improved coupling for connecting the inner ends of the tie-sections together.

One feature of the invention is the provision of a coupling which is such in construction as to obviate the necessity of using bolts and other equivalent fastenings, the coupling being such in construction, however, as to absolutely insure against accidental separation of the tie sections.

More specifically speaking, we aim to pro vide a box-like coupling which is adapted to receive the inner spaced ends of the tiesections, and to utilize novel coacting means between the adjacent ends of said sections and the walls of the coupling to connect these parts together, the coupling being properly insulated from the tie-sections to overcome possible short circuiting of the electrical current.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the'following description and drawing.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same Figure 1 represents a side elevational view of a sectional railway tie and coupling constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the inner ends of the'tie-sections Serial No. 718,902.

showing the construction of the coupling more clearly.

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal detail section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

v Figure 5 is a perspective view of the inner ends of the tiesections.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the coupling detached.

Figures 7 and 8 are detail perspective views of pieces of insulation material used in conjunction with the invention.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that the metallic railway tie is composed of duplicate sections 1 which, in practice, have their inner adjacent ends spaced apart as seen more clearly in Figs. 2 and '5. The outer ends of the tie-sections are provided with rail seats or chairs of the type shown to accommodate the rails R. In this connection, we wish to point out that it is desirable to utilize chairs of the type seen in prior Patents No. 1,402,760, dated January 10, 1922, and No. 1,463,118, dated July 24:, 1923. The construction of the chair at the left-hand end is in accordance with the patent first named, while the chair at the opposite end is constructed in accordance with the second patent named. These rail chairs constitute no part of the present invention, and other types of chairs can probably be used to advantage in practice.

As before stated, the novelty of the pres- 1 ent invention resides in the provision of a new type of fastening or coupling for securing the inner spaced ends of the tie-sections together. Although, the coupling could be constructed otherwise, it preferably comprises an elongated box-like coupling 2 which is adapted to receive the tieends as seen clearly in Figs. 2 and 4. For the purpose of facilitating engagement of the coupling with the tie-ends, it is provided with a removable side plate 3. The outer face of the plate 3 and the corresponding face of the opposite side wall of the coupling are provided with vertical grooves 3 which gradually increase in depth toward their centers. These grooves serve a purpose to be hereinafter set forth. The top and bottom walls of the coupling are pro vided with inwardly projecting transversely disposed lugs a which are preferably substantially semi-cylindrical in cross section. These lugs are adapted to be seated in similarly shaped notches 5 formed in the adjacent edges of the tie-ends. It is obvious that when the lugs are seated in the notches seen in Fig. 2, the ends of the tie are securely connected with the coupling and are prevented against vertical or longitudinal separation. Interposed between the side walls and also between the top and bottom walls of the coupling and tie-ends, are'suitably designed sheets of insulation material 6 and 7 respectively. For the purpose of holding the removable side plate 3 in position and preventing displacement of the coupling, we employ metal bands 8 which entirely encircle the coupling adjacent the end thereof and are received in the aforesaid grooves 3. The bands are preferably endless, being heated and expanded before being applied to the coupling, and after being applied are shrunkand pressed into the grooves 3 The preferred embodiment of the invention has been specifically shown and described. The description however is not limiting for the co-acting lugs and notches betweenthe coupling and tie-ends may be reversed, or other changes may be resorted to within the scope ofthe adj oined claims.

\Ve claim:

1. In a device ofthe class described, an elongated coupling for-the reception of the ends of tie-sections, said coupling being provided with a removable side plate, and bands encircling said coupling for maintaining said plate in operativeposition.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein the outer faces of said removable side wall and the opposed wall of said. coupling are provided with transverse grooves for reception of the bands.

In a device of the class described, an elongated box-like coupling having a removable side wall, the outer faces of said side wall and an opposed wall of said coupling.

being provided with grooves, internal inwardlyprO ectmg lugs formed integral with opposed walls of said'coupling, and retaining bands encircling said coupling and seated in said grooves. I

' 4. A railway tie formed in sections the inner ends of which are spaced apart and have formed intheir upper and lower edges oppositely disposed notches forming seats, said notches being spaced inwardly from said inner 'ends,acoupling for the reception All) 

